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7 Tips for Successful eMail Marketing

eMail marketing is the hottest trend in marketing today, Forrester Research, Inc, has projected that more than $6 billion will be spent on eMail marketing in the year 2005. Companies and organizations are realizing the benefits eMail can provide and are rushing to take advantage of the new opportunities. 

However, much of the promotional eMail most of us receive everyday gets deleted without even being opened. With that in mind, this month, I thought I’d highlight some key elements to help you in planning and writing your eMail marketing campaigns.

1. Define your objective

Setting objectives is the most important step in your marketing planning. While eMail marketing can be used for a variety of reasons, the two most widely implemented objectives are retaining customers and generating sales. 

Customer retention is usually implemented in an online newsletter format, which in essence gives you the ability to stay in touch with your customers and prospects on a regular basis (usually once a month). An important factor in newsletter marketing is understanding the desires of your customers. Newsletters that are just sales pitches for your business aren’t likely to retain readers on an ongoing basis. The most successful newsletters provide information that is valuable to the target audience and you benefit by being the provider of expertise. When visitors sign up for your email program, be sure to tell them what sort of information you will be sending, and then live up to it. A sure way to increase your opt-out percentage is to send something different than what they asked for.

Promotional mailings on the other hand shouldn’t follow a regular schedule (unless you are in a retail business that runs weekly specials). Promotional mailings are designed to catch the visitors attention and encourage them to act (purchase online, contact sales, visit your web site). Promotional messages can often be integrated into your newsletter marketing without hurting your customer relationship.

2. Know your audience

The first and best way to make sure your message gets opened is to make sure you are sending to the right people. If you sent an eMail about baby products to single men, your response would be terrible. The first place to turn with eMail marketing is your own customer and prospect list. Existing customers have consistently been proven to be the most cost effective way to increase sales. In addition to your existing customer list, consider purchasing lists that reach your target audience. Most list brokers (see tip #3) offer highly targeted opt-in lists segmented by a wide variety of demographics. One important note with purchased lists is that you don’t usually get to see the actual eMail addresses of the recipient, so be sure to encourage recipients to sign up for your own list if they respond to your offer.

3. Always use opt-in lists.

There are offers all over the Internet offering millions of eMail addresses for very low costs. However, the negative effect to using these types of lists can be detrimental to your overall business. Spam (electronic junk mail) annoys readers and generates negative public opinion about your company and product. Companies have had their servers crashed by "email bombing" (automated mail returns that clog bandwidth and hard drives until the server stops working) due to sending unsolicited mail. 

There are a wide variety of good sources for “opt-in” eMail lists. (Opt-in means the recipient as indicated their interest and acceptance in receiving email messages from the sender). When seeking eMail lists I turn to companies like Postmaster Direct and YesMail. These companies carefully screen their lists and the users to make sure that your company won’t be accused of spamming. 


4. The most important part of your message is the subject line.

To make sure your e-mail doesn't end up in the "bit bucket" (electronic trash can), your subject line needs to be compelling. Similar to a teaser line on a direct mail envelope, a good subject header makes the difference in whether or not your message gets opened. At the same time, it’s important to not get too promotional in your subject line. For example, many companies now use SPAM filters that block messages with words like “Free” and “Special Offer” in the subject line. 

5. Keep promotional mailings short

For maximum effectiveness, your promotional messages should be short and to the point. People tend to read email quickly, so it’s important to get your core message into the first paragraph. For longer emails, a table of contents at the top of a message is a great way to let readers know what they can find below. 

6. Personalize your messages.

Similar to direct mail, email personalization increases response and satisfaction levels. A simple, “Dear first name,” at the beginning of a message helps draw your customer in and strengthens your relationship. 


7. Use HTML Mail whenever possible.

HTML mail (eMail with graphics and formatting) is supported by over 80% of eMail clients today. While HTML eMail can take longer to create, readership and response tend to be much higher. HTML gives you the ability to highlight your core message and is usually much easier to read. In the last year we converted our dockside.net monthly eMail into HTML format and have seen substantially higher response rates. For examples of other HTML eMail message, I encourage you to sign up for mailings from some of the large retailers such as LL Bean and JC Penney. 

eMail marketing is taking hold and can provide substantial benefits to your marketing efforts. By following these simple tips, you’ll start seeing results faster and build stronger relationships with your customers.